No Russian

"No Russian" is a controversial level in the 2009 first-person shooter video game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. In the level, the player controls Joseph Allen, an undercover CIA agent who participates in a mass shooting at a Moscow airport to gain the trust of a Russian terrorist group. The leader of the terrorists, Vladimir Makarov, tells his co-conspirators, "Remember, no Russian", implying that speaking Russian would reveal their ethnic origins and affiliation to the Russian ultranationalists. At the end of the level, the group's leader kills Allen and reveals that he intended for Russian officials to find Allen's body and believe that the attack was instigated by the United States. The player is not required to kill any civilians and can skip the level altogether without any penalties.

Game designer Mohammad Alavi was heavily involved in the level's development. Alavi wanted the level to explain why Russia would invade the United States, and create an emotional connection between the player and Makarov. Much of the level's development was spent designing the massacre portion, which Alavi did not want to feel too contrived or traumatic. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2's developer Infinity Ward and publisher Activision were both supportive of the level's inclusion, though several game testers expressed disapproval and one refused to play the level at all.

Prior to the release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, gameplay footage from "No Russian" was leaked on the Internet. This early footage divided opinions among video game journalists, although most decided to wait until they could play the level to judge its quality. After the game's release, "No Russian" sparked significant controversy for letting players partake in a terrorist attack. Journalists described the level's plot as illogical and derided the ability to skip the level. Due to the level's graphic content, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 was subject to censorship in international versions of the game. "No Russian" was removed entirely from Russian versions. Journalists have since discussed the importance of "No Russian" to the video game industry.

Level content

In "No Russian", the player can shoot civilians in an airport.

"No Russian" is the fourth level in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2's single-player campaign. The player's character leaves an elevator with four gunmen who proceed to open fire on civilians at a security checkpoint. The player then accompanies the gunmen as they walk through the airport killing any remaining civilians. "No Russian" is noticeably more graphic than any other level in the game—civilians screams can be heard throughout and the crawling injured leave blood trails. The player is not forced to shoot any civilians however, and may instead walk through the airport as the massacre unfolds. The game does not explicitly encourage the player to shoot civilians, and the gunmen do not react if the player does not shoot. Additionally, the player can shoot the gunmen, but they will shoot back and their leader cannot die.

Once the player exits the airport, the terrorists engage in a firefight with armed soldiers, some of whom have riot shields. Once the player has killed the armed soldiers, they can complete the level by reaching the getaway vehicle.

Before the single-player campaign begins, a warning message notifies the player of the option to skip the level should they find its content "disturbing or offensive"; if the player chooses to bypass the level, they do not miss any achievements and their progress in the game is not penalized.

Plot

"No Russian" follows Joseph Allen, an undercover CIA agent tasked with infiltrating and gaining the trust of a Russian terrorist cell. To achieve this, he must participate in a massacre at Zakhaev International Airport in Moscow. The group's leader, Vladimir Makarov, instructs the gunmen not to speak Russian, so as to ensure that the United States is blamed for the attack. As they prepare to leave the airport, Makarov kills Allen, and reveals that he knew of his true identity. Makarov's goal was to use Allen as a false flag, so when Russian officials discover that one of the assailants was an American CIA agent, they would declare war on the United States.

Development

The concept for "No Russian" was first proposed during Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2's plot brainstorming sessions. The game's developer, Infinity Ward, wanted to discuss how terrorists operate in the modern era, and sought to create an unimaginable, albeit plausible scenario that would make the player uncomfortable. Lead writer Jesse Stern noted that despite the grim subject matter, people instinctively want to know what it is like to experience these attacks, and cited documentaries about the 2008 Mumbai attacks and the Columbine High School massacre as evidence. According to Stern: "These are human beings who perpetrate these acts, so you don't really want to turn a blind eye to it. You want to take it apart and figure out how that happened and what, if anything, can be done to prevent it. Ultimately, our intention was to put you as close as possible to atrocity."

Game designer Mohammad Alavi was heavily involved in the level's development, from programming the artificial intelligence to directing the motion capture used for the character animations. Alavi never intended for "No Russian" to attract controversy or be seen as a political statement, but instead developed it as a way to progress the game's narrative. He wanted the level to explain why Russia would invade the United States, create an emotional connection between the player and the terrorist leader, and do so indelibly. Alavi drew inspiration from news articles and films. He did not interview real victims of terrorist attacks.

Much of the level's development constituted designing the massacre. In the first iteration of "No Russian", the massacre ended once the player killed the group of civilians outside the elevator, which then transitioned into a firefight. Alavi felt that having an emotional scene abruptly shift into a firefight was "gimmicky". He altered the level to prolong the massacre. He also removed scenes with children or families hugging each other to reduce player trauma. Talent director Keith Arem remarked that due to the level's emotionally charged set piece, some of the actors became tearful while reciting their lines.

Alavi was not aware of any pushback from Activision, the game's publisher, about the level. Similarly, most members of Infinity Ward were supportive of "No Russian", but Alavi did note that there were some members who strongly opposed the content. By contrast, game testers elicited a variety of reactions. Many were initially angry and confused at the level's content, but eventually settled down and began shooting at the civilians. One tester, who at the time was enlisted in the United States Armed Forces, refused to play the level at all, but was willing to play the rest of the game. This led to the implementation of the skip feature, as Alavi did not want the player to be punished for not doing what they felt was morally wrong.

Reception

Initial reception

Prior to the release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, a video featuring footage from "No Russian" was illegally leaked onto the Internet. Activision quickly confirmed the level's existence and clarified its context within the game. In an email statement, Activision wrote how the level was "not representative of the overall gameplay experience in Modern Warfare 2" and that it is "designed to evoke the atrocities of terrorism". The video was a popular story in gaming publications and several major news publications, including the Associated Press and The Guardian. Journalists attributed the story's widespread exposure to the series' cultural significance.

This early footage divided video game journalists. The Daily Telegraph's Tom Hoggins felt that while he could not properly judge the level without having played it, he still questioned whether Infinity Ward had approached the level from the wrong direction by letting the player use grenades to "treat these civilians as human bowling pins". Writing for The Guardian, Keith Stuart criticized the skip feature, describing it as a "cop-out" for a level that the developer intended players to experience. Jim Sterling of Destructoid however was fully supportive of the level, as he thought that it was a statement that video games could discuss controversial topics, which he felt that many developers would often shy away from. He concluded by saying that if "No Russian" was able to make players question if the payoff was worth human sacrifice, then video games could finally be considered an art form.

While Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 received critical acclaim at its release, journalists heavily criticized the content of "No Russian". Marc Cieslak of BBC News was saddened by the level, as he felt it disproved his theory that the video game industry had "grown up". Rock, Paper, Shotgun's Kieron Gillen chastised the level for failing to live up to expectations. He found the plot to be illogical, criticized the skip feature for rendering an artistic statement as "laughably pathetic", and ultimately summarized the level as "dumb shock". Writing for PC World, Matt Peckham questioned why the gunmen would not care if the player did not shoot, and felt that not informing the player of what was about to happen until the last possible moment was "creating a kind of plausible emotional deniability by removing all the dramatic impetus that ought to surround it". Several prominent British religious leaders condemned "No Russian": Alexander Goldberg of the London Jewish Forum was worried that children would play the level; Fazan Mohammed of the British Muslim Forum described the level as an intimate experience of enacting terrorism; and Stephen Lowe, the retired Bishop of Hulme, felt that the level was "sickening".

Due to the graphic content featured in "No Russian", some international versions of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 were subject to censorship. Activision decided of its own volition to remove the level from Russian versions of the game, as Russia does not have a formal rating system for games. Initial reports erroneously stated Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 had been banned in Russia, when in fact Activision had only released a PC version of the game. In Japanese and German versions of the game, the level was edited so that the player would fail the mission if they killed any civilians. The Japanese version was criticized by some players for changing Makarov's opening line, "Remember, no Russian", to "Kill them; they are Russians".

Uncensored versions of the game were often given a high content rating, such as an M rating by the ESRB in North America, and an 18 certificate by the BBFC in the UK. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 was the first game in the series to receive an 18 certificate, which the BBFC noted was specifically due to "No Russian". In their game summary, the BBFC wrote: "The evident brutality in this mission does carry a focus on the 'infliction of pain or injury' which, along with the disturbing nature of the scenario it sets up, was felt to be more appropriately placed at the adult category.". In Australia, the game was rated MA15+, which was contested by politician Michael Atkinson who felt that "No Russian" let players be "virtual terrorists". He sought to appeal the rating and have the game banned, but the Australian Classification Board never received correspondence from Atkinson.

Retrospective commentary

In 2012, Laura Parker of GameSpot discussed how "No Russian" was a watershed moment for the video game industry. She felt that the level raised the question of whether or not it was acceptable to discuss human suffering in video games, and if their status as entertainment products prevented them from doing so. She also commented that if more developers were willing to take risks and include controversial material, then video games would finally receive cultural recognition. One game that included controversial material was Spec Ops: The Line (2012). During one scene, the player comes across a squadmate who had been lynched by a mob, and the player has the option to either kill the civilians or scare them away with warning shots. Walt Williams, the lead writer for Spec Ops: The Line, remarked that the development team wanted to make the scene feel organic, and explicitly sought to avoid the "clumsiness" of "No Russian".

In his book Playing War: Military Video Games After 9/11, Matthew Payne analyzed three controversial levels from the Call of Duty series, including "No Russian". He suggested that Allen's death emphasized the militainment theme of the soldier who sacrifices themselves for the greater good, and that the level rationalizes morally suspect operations as long as they serve under the guise of national security. Payne also commented that while "No Russian" could be seen as a realistic depiction of war when compared to contemporary representations, it could only be viewed in the context of the story, and thus removes any potential of having the player reexamine the precepts of modern warfare. Following the November 2015 Paris attacks, Robert Rath of Zam.com replayed "No Russian" and examined how the level mirrored real life terrorist attacks. Rath felt that while the plot was absurd, the attack featured in the level was realistic, and that it could teach players that terrorist attacks often occur at soft targets.

"No Russian" has been linked to some real premeditated attacks. Following the 2011 Domodedovo International Airport bombing, the Russian television network RT broadcast a report that juxtaposed security camera footage of the attack with gameplay footage from "No Russian". The reporter stated that the level was reminiscent of the bombing, and quoted Fox News analyst Walid Phares as saying terrorists could be using video games as training tools. In 2013, a student from Albany, Oregon, was detained by police for plotting to attack his high school with explosives and firearms. Notebooks found by police detailed how the student planned to use napalm grenades and have the theme song from "No Russian" play in the background.

See also

• Controversies surrounding Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2